Israel accused of skewing elections

The Israeli army is cracking down on civil servants and community leaders, including elected local government officials, throughout the West Bank, in what some believe to be a bid to force Hamas out of upcoming Palestinian elections.

Palestinian sources told Aljazeera.net that Israeli soldiers arrested on Monday dozens of Islamist political activists, including a number of municipal council officials.

One of the arrested is Hakim Shalalda, the mayor of Sair, 10km northeast of Hebron. Shalalda won the town's mayoral elections nearly three months ago.

His family told Aljazeera.net that Israeli occupation soldiers raided their home before dawn on Monday, telling him he was under arrest.

"They came and took him. I think it is because of the elections," said his wife.

Israeli soldiers also arrested 15 Islamist political activists in al-Shuyukh, also in the Hebron district.

Councillors arrested

Last week, the Israeli army arrested the seven elected members of the municipal council of the village of Shuqba in the northern West Bank.

Israeli soldiers continue to carry out nightly raids targeting the homes of potential Islamist candidates for the third and last phase of the municipal elections in the West Bank, set to take place before the end of the year.

Hamas sources estimate the number of Islamic political leaders and activists arrested during the past 10 days is 450, including academics, teachers, civil servants, students and business people.

According to East Jerusalem lawyer Tawhid Shaban, who defends many of the detainees before Israeli military courts, up to 80% of the detainees have already been sent to the Negev desert detention camp, Kitziot.

Legal justifications

Asked if he thought the arrests had any legal justifications, Shaban said: "The occupation itself has no legal justification, but it is a reality."

"Israel realises that genuine democracy empowers the Palestinian people, and a strong Palestinian people is the last thing Israel would want to see"

Hani Masri,Palestinian current affairs commentator

Shaban said most of the detainees were given five to six months of "administrative detention," meaning they will be incarcerated without charge or trial for political reasons.

Some of the detainees, such as Hasan Yusuf, the Ram Allah based spokesman of Hamas, were reportedly placed in solitary confinement in the Askalan maximum security prison.

Israel already detains between 9000 and 10,000 Palestinian political and resistance activists, many without charge or trial.

Democracy

Palestinian current affairs commentator Hani Masri told Aljazeera.net Israel was not interested in seeing democracy in the occupied Palestinian territories.

"Israel realises that genuine democracy empowers the Palestinian people, and a strong Palestinian people is the last thing Israel would want to see."

Democracy would give Palestinians greater powers

Masri said he thought Fatah would lose in the eyes of the Palestinian public if it participated in the next elections, irrespective of Hamas's participation.

"Then two things would happen. First, the elections would be, more or less, a one horse race; and, second, Fatah would be viewed by a majority of Palestinians as conniving with Israel against Hamas and carrying out Israel's agenda."

Masri said Israel would be responsible for sabotaging the Palestinian elections, adding that the PA should cancel the polls and "throw the ball in the court of the international community".

"Everybody knows that without Hamas there will be no genuine elections. Similarly, we all realise that a Fatah-dominated parliament would perpetuate the status quo and deepen the crisis facing the entire Palestinian political system."